5 More Moments In A Post Apocalyptic World
by Linkin41
Summary: A second installment in the series, this showcases 5 more out of order moments after a zombie apocalypse hits Greendale. See more of how it started, the aftermath, and how the group carries on surviving in this new world.
1. The Archer

By popular demand(meaning like...4 of you, which is good enough), here is a second installment of the 5 Moments series. It's recommended that if you haven't read the first installment, you should probably go back and do that since this picks up from where it left off. Anyway, I don't own Community or it's characters within. Enjoy!

* * *

The group had decided to stop in a Nevada campground off the main road. While Troy and Abed worked on more experimental weapons and Shirley took time to enjoy the warm but breezy day with her son, Jeff followed Annie as she snuck off into a wooded area with bow and arrow in hand. He came up behind her, standing back as she pulled the arrow back on Britta's bow.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"Be a waste of a penny," Annie answered as she let go of the arrow, groaning in frustration when she missed the tree.

Jeff shook his head. This was all Annie did in the two days after the group buried Britta back in Arizona. If she wasn't part of a raid, she was out somewhere(not too far away from their temporary camp) practicing archery. So far, she hadn't mastered it quite like Britta had.

"It's a lot harder than it looks," Jeff commented, watching as Annie retrieved the arrow.

Annie glared at him as she walked back, "Then why don't you show me how it's done? I know Britta gave you a few lessons."

"Which she gave up on because I couldn't get the hang of it," Jeff replied.

"You can still help me," Annie shoved the bow and arrow into his hands, "here."

He gave her a look as he stepped forward, raising the bow and taking aim.

"You need to focus," Jeff began explaining, "but you also need to relax and breathe."

He took a few even breaths before he launched the arrow at the tree, only managing to make a small nick in the bark.

"See? I'm not good at this," Jeff handed the bow back to Annie as he went to get the arrow.

"That's still a lot closer than I've ever gotten."

He came back and dropped the arrow into her hand, "Why are so determined to master archery? You're really good with a gun."

"Someone needs to be an archer. It's more effective for killing rotten ones because it's so quiet."

"So it's not because you're trying to deal with losing Britta?"

Annie turned away from him, raising the bow and aiming at the tree once more.

"Troy and Abed dive into their experiments. Shirley spends more time with Ben. You go and hunt more rotten ones, which is really reckless of you by the way," Annie watched the arrow sail through air, getting stuck in an upper branch of the tree, "we all have our ways of dealing. Do you think you can reach that?"

Jeff shrugged and jogged over, hopping up and managing to pluck the arrow from the branch.

"So it is your way of dealing."

"Not just with Britta's death," Annie took the arrow back from him, "with everything. Pierce's death, Britta's death, the day-to-day travel…"

Annie sat down, setting the bow and arrow down beside her as she leaned against a tree. Jeff followed suit.

"There's also the constant fear of one or all of you not making it back from a raid," Annie continued, "that Ben might…"

"Stop," Jeff placed his hand on her knee, "I get it. I go to sleep with these same thoughts. I wake up with them too."

"I just wish this was gone. That things went back to normal and we can go back to Greendale and worry about grades and graduating."

"I wish that too. Which is something I never thought I would say."

Annie laughed, "You do miss Greendale after all."

"And it better stay between us," Jeff said in mock warning.

"My lips are sealed."

Jeff squeezed her knee gently.

"There you are," Troy said, stumbling into the woods, "been looking for you two everywhere. I was beginning to think rotten ones had gotten to you guys."

"Not hardly," Jeff said, removing his hand from Annie's knee, "why were you looking for us? Are we needed?"

"No, we just lost track of you," Troy said, lifting up the walkie to his mouth, "found them, they're fine."

"_Roger," _Shirley's voice crackled on the other end.

Annie nudged Jeff, her eyes going from the bow to Troy and back to Jeff with a raised brow. Jeff caught on to what she was suggesting and nodded.

"Hey Troy," Annie stood up, bow and arrow in hand, "how good are you at archery?"


	2. The Very Beginning

Thanks for the alerts and reviews guys, you make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Here's the next chapter.

* * *

Of course.

Of course a viral break out would happen.

Of course this virus would cause some interesting side effects like craving human flesh.

Of course this would happen in the middle of the day.

Of course this would happen at Greendale.

Of course the study group would be on different parts of the campus.

Of course.

This was what ran through Jeff's mind as he and Troy made their way to the study room, fighting their way through panicked crowds and the cannibals that chased them.

"This is exactly like 28 Days Later," Troy shouted, punching someone in the face.

"Did you even check if that was a person or one of those things," Jeff asked.

"Does it matter?"

Jeff stayed silent. Guess it didn't matter when you were running for your life. After punching a few more fellow students/cannibals in the face, Jeff and Troy barged into the study room which startled Britta and Pierce.

"Don't do that," Britta scolded them, "I thought you were one of those things!"

"Oh gee, I'm sorry, I was too busy fighting those things off to get here," Jeff replied back sharply.

"Wait," Troy looked around the room, "there's only four of us here."

"Ay-bed and Annie went back for Shirley," Pierce explained, "she was trapped in the cafeteria."

Jeff face palmed, he knew going back for someone was risky and not too bright, but they were his friends after all.

"I'm going after them," Jeff started toward the opposite door.

"Oh no you don't," Britta caught his arm, "you're not going back out there. I won't allow you to."

"It's not up to you, is it," Jeff tried to wrestle his arm out of Britta's grip, her fingers tightening the grip.

Pierce's hand went to his other arm, "You're staying here. Majority rule here."

"Majority rule? What? Since when is that implied," Jeff looked between the two before looking to Troy, "help me out here!"

Troy sadly shook his head, "As much as I want to go find Abed, they're right. It's dangerous out there and we barely made it here. I'll block the door if I have to keep you in here."

"There's two doors."

"I can run pretty fast."

Jeff sighed, trying to go to his seat at the study table.

"Let go of me. You win," Jeff said, annoyed.

Britta and Pierce reluctantly let go, Troy watching as Jeff went to lock the study room doors then sit at his seat at the table. The others followed suit, sitting in uncomfortable silence and listening to screams outside.

"How long do we wait," Troy asked.

Jeff shrugged, "I don't know."

"If we wait any longer, there's no chance we'll get out of here," Britta pointed out.

"Ten more minutes," Pierce looked at his watch, "ten more minutes and we're going."

Britta and Troy looked to Jeff.

Jeff gave a nod, "Ten minutes it is."

Two minutes later, the screaming had quieted some, but not completely.

At the five minute mark, The Dean hit the door of the study room and begged Jeff to save him. Jeff was almost to the door when The Dean suddenly knocked away, his shriek echoing through the library as the group heard the wet ripping of skin and the crunching of bones.

At minute nine, Troy began to panic. He began rocking back and forth in his chair and making high pitched squeaking sounds. Britta had turned her chair around and watched the seconds tick by, wringing her hands over and over in her lap. Pierce's fingers tapped on the table nervously, peering beyond Jeff at the door behind him. Jeff's eyes were focused on the table in front of him, his mind racing through thoughts of what could have possibly happened to Annie, Abed, and Shirley.

Finally at ten minutes, the nervous ticks had stopped. The four of them held their breath and glanced at both doors. After seconds had passed, they shared a grim look and got to their feet.

"I guess we move on to planning our way out…," Jeff said glumly, "where do we even go from here?"

Pierce shrugged, "My manson is secure."

Troy nodded, "Yeah...it's pretty secure."

"Sounds like a good plan," Britta replied unenthusiastically.

There was a sudden knocking at the study room doors, four heads whipping around at the sound.

"Come on, please tell me you're in there! They're coming for us!"

Jeff quickly unlocked the doors, recognizing Annie's voice. Annie, Abed, and Shirley threw themselves into the room, Abed remembering to lock the door. Troy charged forward and nearly tackled Abed as he enveloped him in a hug.

"I thought you were dead," Troy said.

"We got stuck in the cafeteria," Abed explained, "we had to wait until the zom-"

Shirley cleared her throat.

"Rotten ones," Abed corrected himself, "we had to wait until the rotten ones cleared out. Sorry Shirley."

"It's okay. We were just running for our lives, it's understandable that you forgot," Shirley said.

"We agreed to call them 'rotten ones' instead of the z-word," Annie explained.

Jeff put his arms around Shirley and Annie, "At least you made it. Wait, none of you got bitten right?"

"No, none of us got bitten," Annie answered.

"It felt like deja-vu running from those things," Shirley commented.

"Yeah," Abed agreed, "I also feel that everything is out of order."

"Greendale is out of order, Abed," Britta gestured to the door, "there isn't any order. Not anymore."

"I'm glad everyone is here," Pierce said, smiling, "but what about the plan?"

"Right," Jeff dropped his arms and went back to the table, the others gathering in their usual spots, "here's the plan."


	3. A Discovery is Made

You guys are pretty awesome. Just thought I'd let you know. Anyway, next chapter.

* * *

"Have you guys seen Jeff," Annie asked, poking her head in the RV.

The group had set up camp in Lake Tahoe, parking the RV right next to the lake. Troy and Abed were discussing their next idea for a new experiment at the small table, sketches strewn about.

"Nope," Abed answered.

"Not for a while," Troy replied.

"Then we have a problem," Annie stepped inside the RV, "because Shirley said he left at two."

Abed glanced down at his watch, "It's 4:34."

"Have you tried reaching him on the walkie," Troy asked, picking his walkie up.

"Nothing but static," Annie answered, clipping hers to her shirt, "there's about an hour an half before sundown, we need to find him fast. Shirley and I will go look for him, you two stay here and if he comes back you let us know."

"What if he got bitten," Abed looked Annie straight in eye.

She avoided his eyes, "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. There's still a high chance he's alive."

"Good luck," Troy said.

Annie gave him a nod as she exited the RV, grabbing Shirley's spiked club on the way out.

"Get Ben inside," Annie said to Shirley, "we're going to look for Jeff."

As Shirley went in, Annie examined her guns, which were loaded and ready to shoot. She handed the spiked club to Shirley and the two of them set off down the shoreline.

"So, who is going to shoot him if...you know," Shirley glanced to Annie as the two treaded lightly along the edge of the lake.

Annie swallowed, "I will."

"Are you sure?"

"Very sure, but let's not jump to conclusions. He could still be-"

Annie stopped, her foot stepping on noticeably hard and crunchy. She stepped back and saw that it was Jeff's walkie, cracked from her shoe.

"He can't be far," Annie speculated, picking up the walkie, "look along the shore."

Shirley gave her a nod as the two of them continued forward.

Off to Annie's right, she heard shuffling in the distance, twigs snapping.

"Are those…," Shirley whispered, gesturing to where the noise was coming from.

Annie nodded to Shirley, "Those are definitely rotten ones. If we stay quiet, we'll be fine. Keep moving."

As Annie occasionally glanced to the lake to her left, she wondered if it was possible that rotten ones could swim. If they could even breathe underwater. She shoved the thought out of her head, because for all she knew Jeff might have fell into the lake and it was possible there were rotten ones waiting in the water for him. They would pull him under and as much as he would fight, eventually he would grow tired and they would feast on him. Or he would get bitten and turn into one of them and then she would have to shoot him do-

"Annie," Shirley whispered sharply to get her attention.

Annie followed her eyes and froze, her fears had just come true. Lying in shallow water was Jeff, half submerged and half laying on jagged rocks that poked through the water's surface. Annie's feet moved faster than her brain could process, splashing down next to Jeff's still body. She was careful as she checked for a pulse, letting out a small sigh of relief when she confirmed he was still alive. Jeff's started to stir as she examined him for bites and other injuries.

"Annie," Jeff said roughly, his throat feeling like sandpaper.

"Shh," Annie replied soothingly, "take it easy."

"I knew you'd find me," Jeff tried clearing his throat.

"Shirley found you."

"I should thank her."

Annie gave him a small smile, "I told you hunting rotten ones was reckless."

"Lesson learned."

Annie gingerly sat him up, finding a large gash on the back of his head that was still bleeding out.

"Let's get you back to camp," Annie said, "do you think you can walk?"

"Let me stand first," Jeff said, pushing himself up.

He wobbled when he stood, Annie catching him before he lost his balance, but managed to steady himself afterward.

"I think I can walk."

"Good, I'll go get Shirley."

Annie let go of him, waiting to see if he would lose his balance again. When she was sure he wouldn't fall again, she ran back to the shore. At first Annie couldn't find her, then she heard a thud from behind. She turned and found Shirley bashing away at a couple rotten ones with more coming toward her. Annie quickly pulled out her pistol and shot the two rotten ones down.

"Get Jeff," Annie commanded as she ran up beside Shirley to reload and take aim, "I'll take care of this."

"Do you have enough ammo?"

"Yes, now go," Annie looked to her sharply.

Shirley sprinted off toward the water as Annie put bullets into two more rotten ones before reloading. As much as she loved her old-fashioned double barrel pistol, it wouldn't do for a horde this large. She holstered it and pulled out a normal 9 mm pistol, cocking it before she fired at the next wave of rotten ones.

"Annie! Come on," Shirley yelled to her, Jeff gripping onto her tightly.

Annie put three more bullets into the heads of rotten ones before she took off running, staying behind Shirley and Jeff and shooting behind her every few feet.

Abed and Troy were waiting at the camp, on guard after they heard gunshots in the distance. Shirley and Jeff got to the camp first, Shirley handing off Jeff to Troy and Abed.

"Get him inside and be careful with him," Shirley sternly said, "he's in bad shape."

As Troy and Abed took Jeff into the RV, Annie finally reached the camp while taking out a rotten one that had followed her.

"Shirley," Annie shouted, tossing her another pistol.

Shirley caught it, taking the safety off and standing beside Annie as another horde of rotten ones charged toward the camp. The two women worked together and took out the horde, reloading before the next wave could attack.

"Why are there so many of them," Shirley yelled to Annie above the gunfire.

"Maybe they heard the shots," Annie answered logically.

"Or maybe they're starting to become intelligent," Shirley suggested.

Annie only gave half a second to ponder that theory before she focused back on the oncoming wave of rotten ones. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the girls, Troy and Abed had started collecting the items they had left outside of the RV. They threw them in hastily before Abed hopped into the driver's seat.

"Come on, we've got to go," Troy said to the women.

Shirley fired off three more shots before heading inside, Annie didn't budge from her spot.

"Annie please," Troy pleaded.

She still continued to fire at the ever-growing number of rotten ones.

"Annie, Jeff needs you."

That's all it took for Annie to stop. She glanced back at Troy, nodding before following him inside. As Abed threw the RV into reverse, she braced herself against the small couch they had put Jeff on. She kept an iron grip on Jeff as Abed continued to drive wildly back onto the road, Jeff's fingers lightly curling around hers as the study group sped off toward California.


	4. Safe Haven Lost

Thank you guys for the reviews, I read each and everyone of them. But enough of that, here's the next chapter.

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The group threw their belongings in the back of one of Pierce's SUVs, Jeff grabbing the keys and hopping into the driver's seat. Britta had called shotgun, leaving the others to the remaining seats in the back. Shirley had taken the car seat out of her minivan and belted it between herself and Abed, strapping Ben securely in the seat.

"Do we have everything," Annie asked, looking to everyone.

"Everything is packed and in the back," Abed said, looking behind his seat.

"Britta, are you sure that there's a military checkpoint outside of Greendale that will take us to a safe house," Jeff glanced to her.

"Positive, Shirley and Troy heard it too," Britta answered.

Shirley and Troy nodded in agreement.

"If this fails, we continue with the original plan," Jeff's eyes went to the rearview mirror, "agreed."

The study group murmured in agreement.

"Let's hope that broadcast was right," Jeff said as he turned the key in the ignition.

The ride to the military checkpoint was a silent one, none of the passengers daring to look out the windows. Unfortunately for Jeff, he had the perfect view as he drove past(and occasionally through) the carnage and gore left behind on the road. He bit the inside of his cheek, his eyes staring straight ahead and refusing to acknowledge that he might have known some of these corpses at one point.

Two uncomfortable hours later, Jeff had stopped the SUV just in front of the two tanks in the road. The six of them hopped out with makeshift weapons in hand.

"I'm staying back," Abed said, stopping the group before they went forward, "to guard Ben and our stuff just in case."

"Thank you Abed," Shirley said to him sweetly.

"Let's go," Britta said, deciding to take the lead.

The rest of the group fell in line behind her, Jeff bringing up the rear as they trekked toward the checkpoint. A few moments later both Britta and Troy yelped when they reached the checkpoint, the two looking like they were going to be sick.

"Oh my lord," Shirley gasped, sliding past Troy and Britta.

As Shirley began praying, Annie and Jeff finally got to look at the scene. There were at least twenty soldiers in front of them, all of them bloody, ripped apart, and strewn about the road. Jeff's mind went back briefly to what he drove by on the road. While some of the bodies were torn apart like the soldiers, others were more intact. Except for the few small holes. He put two and two together and knew exactly what happened.

"They were bringing in refugees," Jeff broke the grim silence between the group, "those people on the road back there, that's who they were. They were like us, they were looking for a safe haven."

He didn't meet their eyes when the group looked to him, listening to his every word.

"They were so close to that safe haven," Jeff continued, "but a few of them were infected. Those infected turned as they were walking and attacked and it spread. The army had no choice, they had to shoot to kill."

"Oh my god," Britta was both shocked and disgusted.

"They shot innocent people," Annie said, her voice quiet.

"And they still died," Shirley added on.

"I was going to say we were too late," Troy shook his head, "but we were lucky."

"Extremely lucky," Jeff began glancing around, "we should take what we can from here."

"Jeffrey," Shirley scolded, "we are not stealing from the dead!"

"It's not stealing if they're dead," Jeff knelt down to examine a discarded gun.

"Exactly," Britta agreed, "it's not stealing, it's survival. I want to survive, Shirley. I want all of us to survive, even if it means taking from a dead man's hands."

Shirley stared at Britta for a moment before begrudgingly agreeing with her. As the group spread out to check out the loot, an object at Troy's feet had caught his eye. He bent down and picked up carefully, smiling when he recognized what it was.

"Hello grenade," Troy said in a sing-song tone, "I have a feeling you'll be useful one day."


	5. We Go North

I got so distracted I uploaded this late. Sorry about that. Anyway, thanks for the reviews and here is the final chapter.

* * *

When Jeff opened his eyes, he was met with a blurry and unfamiliar ceiling. He blinked a few times to clear his eyes, but even then he still couldn't recognize his surroundings. He began to notice something else off, he was lying on something that cushioned his body. Jeff finally realized he was lying in a bed. Had it been so long that he had forgotten what laying on a mattress felt like?

His mind began piecing the puzzle together as he shifted his head to the right and found a small sleeping baby next to him. This was the bed in the back of the RV, the one Shirley shared with her son. But if he was here, then where was Shirley? He attempted to sit up, only to have his head swirling in pain. A hand pressed on his shoulder, lowering him back down on the bed. Jeff's eyes looked down at the hand and followed it upward where he met Annie's eyes.

"Nice to see you awake," Annie squeezed his shoulder gently, "but you're not ready to get out of bed just yet."

Annie was currently perched on a tiny stool next to the bed and, when Jeff glanced down, a purple sleeping bag was at her feet.

"What am I doing here," Jeff asked, patted the bed.

"Once we had gotten far enough down the road, Troy and I carried you back here so I could stitch up that gash on your head."

Jeff's hand went to his head, his fingers brushing a wrap bandage on his head.

"How did you fall into the lake?"

He searched his mind trying to remember what happened, "I'm not entirely sure, I just remember losing my footing and falling backward. Besides my head, am I okay?"

"You had scrapes and bruises from landing on the rocks, but that's it."

"Shirley doesn't mind that I'm in her bed," Jeff looked back over to Ben.

"She knows you need to recover."

"How long was I out?"

"Two days."

Jeff slightly nodded, "Where are we?"

"Tahoe City, California," Annie looked out to the small window, "the others are out there testing a theory of Shirley's."

"Which is?"

"That the rotten ones are starting to become intelligent."

Jeff gave her a confused look, "What?"

"They didn't attack you after you fell," Annie explained, "they didn't start attacking until Shirley and I found you. It was like they set up a trap for us."

"And I was the bait," Jeff wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"Exactly," Annie clenched her hands in her lap, "if those things have gotten smarter, it could be the end of us. Not just our group, but the entire world."

"Annie," Jeff reached out and took one of her clenched hands, "we're going to make it out of this. All of us."

"How can you be so hopeful," Annie unclenched her hand and wove her fingers around his, "we've lost so much already."

"Because we made it this far. We're in California."

"Where it's still not safe. There isn't a place that's safe."

"If it's not safe here, we still continue with the plan."

"And we go north."

"Exactly."

The RV door opened opened, the other three members of the group trudging inside and heading to the back. Annie let go of Jeff's hand, causing him to frown briefly before the others entered.

"You're awake," Abed said when he saw Jeff, "how are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a train," Jeff answered before looking to Shirley, "sorry I'm taking the bed."

"You need it more than I do, sweetie," Shirley said with a small smile.

"None of you are bitten right," Annie asked, examining their arms.

"We're clean," Troy wrestled his arms out of Annie's hands.

"I think we can take their word for it, Annie. They are our friends," Jeff reminded her.

"It doesn't hurt to check," Annie said defensively, "anyway, what did you find out about the rotten ones?"

"We observed a few of them in a group," Abed began to explain, "at one point they were moaning and grunting to one another, like they were having a conversation."

"The grunts and moans were in different pitches too, almost like inflection," Shirley added.

"That wasn't the weirdest part," Abed said, looking to Troy.

Annie and Jeff looked between Troy, Abed, and Shirley.

"I wanted to get closer, to observe them better," Troy began, "while I was moving, they spotted me."

"I told you it was a bad idea," Shirley scolded.

"Let me finish. Anyway, they walked toward me. They didn't charge, they didn't attack, they were just curious," Troy continued, "and then a couple of them sniffed me, looked confused and continued on their way."

Annie wore a look of surprise. Jeff, however, took Annie's gun from the holster and aimed it at Troy.

"What are you doing," Annie said in a panic.

"Put the gun down," Abed tried to reason with Jeff.

"He's your friend, remember," Shirley said, desperate.

"I wasn't bitten don't shoot me," Troy held up his hands.

"Move," Jeff commanded.

Troy ducked away before Jeff shot off one single round. Jeff winced, the gun's recoil was powerful enough to make the pounding in his head become worse. As he tried to push through the pain, the others had discovered a rotten one lying on the ground with a bullet through it's head. Troy jumped over the dead rotten one, dragging it outside the RV and shutting the door tightly. Shirley took a wailing Ben(woken up and startled from the loud bang) into her arms, trying to quiet him down. Annie meanwhile took her gun back and tried to get Jeff to lie back down, but he refused to budge.

"Someone start this up and get driving," Jeff said, still pained from the recoil, "we need to get out. Now!"


End file.
